However, no matter how much you think about it, it is useless, so you can only fight first!

The two battleships fully developed their firepower advantages. After intersecting with the two British warships, they aimed at the armed merchant ships that rushed up and began a intensive firepower baptism.

Under the command of the officers, the gunners took out the red-burned lead bullets from the fire pit built with bricks on the deck, and then wrapped the lead bullets with lead and quickly stuffed them into the barrel. With a command, dozens of hot lead bullets shot towards the sails of the British ships. The hit sail surface was ignited when it encountered fire, and the flames spread at a terrifying speed with the help of the strong sea breeze. The officers and sailors were leaping on the British armed merchant ships. They immediately extinguished any fighting thoughts and began to save the canvas in a hurry.

"The British still don't have a memory." Sankai smiled after looking at it, "I remember we had already taught them a lesson half a year ago outside Portugal. I didn't expect that they were so stupid and had no progress at all."

"No, this return fleet is obviously an East India Company fleet that goes to the Far East for trade." Lu Ming shook his head and said, "Maybe they went to India more than a year ago, and they have just set out on their return journey. The enemy is not stupid, and some tricks can only be used once. Now, cheer me up and fight against the British hard!"

The gunners fired more than 100 hot shells in a row, consuming all the heated shells in the fire pit. These red shells created countless small fires on the two British armed merchant ships that came towards them, and one of them was even lucky. The powder barrel that was ignited instantly had a terrifying explosion. The huge air waves would shake many large and small shells, tools and even human bodies, and even the artillery carts directly rolled into the sea.

The officers and soldiers of the East Coast who witnessed this tragic scene whistled happily. They rolled up their sleeves and stuffed bombs with fuses into the barrels, creating a large number of death gifts for the British again. The Navy's bombs seemed much better than those fired by the Army. Almost half of the shells exploded accurately above the deck of the enemy ships. Scattered iron nails and broken iron pieces drilled into the body of the British sailors who were busy extinguishing the fire on the deck, and then rolled and ran out of kinetic energy before they stopped. These terrifying shell fragments caused serious damage to the British. The sailors involved in the firefighting and many gunners standing on the deck were knocked down on a large scale.

The hot bomb and the explosive bomb are an effective "vicious" tactic explored by the East Coast Navy. It is particularly effective against the merchant ships and warships in Spain and Britain with a large number of people.

The bomb was followed by grape bombs and intensive attacks from solid iron balls. In short, the strike fleet led by the two battleships successfully paralyzed the two British armed merchant ships in front of them in just twenty minutes. According to the Navy Lieutenant Sankai, the combined casualties of British sailors on the two ships exceeded 100, with a casualty rate of 60%, and had basically lost their combat effectiveness.

The two British warships that entered the battle from the beginning were also severely damaged. Although they still maintained considerable combat effectiveness, it is undeniable that the losses of personnel and artillery were not small.

This is the power of the battleship! The thick ship plates, numerous artillery, and high ship side make the shelling results of these small-tonnage British warships unsatisfactory. Especially at close range, due to the insufficient elevation angle of the artillery, they can only bombard the side decks of the two battleships. However, the 8-pound and 12-pound guns they generally equipped cannot bombard the decks of the "August 10" class battleships, which are more than four meters thick and close to five meters. Moreover, due to their quality, their artillery cannot repeatedly use strong charges to launch like the East Coast people, which further reduces the power of the artillery.

In short, even in close combat, the two "August 10" class battleships were completely unafraid of the siege of a few British warships, and it was nothing more than a price to pay.

Five battleships lined up in close formations, with two battleships in front, frigates and transport ships behind, and they wandered on the sea like a fire-breathing dragon, fighting against all the enemies blocking their faces.

However, the most outstanding thing today is not their destiny. Two "Yangwu"-class fast cruisers used their high speed to the extreme in the vast South Atlantic. They wandered on the left side of the British Fleet and used the advantages of artillery to pick up those full of cargo. The slow and slow armed merchant ships started, constantly firing hot bombs, explosive bombs, grape bombs, chain bombs and solid iron bombs onto these merchant ships, destroying their hulls and canvases, and killing their personnel.

These two warships were like the cunning gray wolf on the grassland. They followed the migrating bison herd, picking out the weakest calf from time to time and jumping up and biting it, and then quietly fleeing before the leading bull reacted.

The sails on the "Yangwu" and "Yangwei" were carefully selected old sailors, and even the sailors were experienced veterans. The two beautiful and slender warships were wandering around the British fleet like white strips in the waves under their control, which made the British extremely distressed.

You say go and chase, this ship is useless if there are fewer one ships. One or two ships are just a delivery of vegetables. You must dispatch five or six ships, including two warships, to get on board, so that you can use the number advantage to block them, and then calmly compress their activity space, and then use the number advantage to fight to win. But the problem is that the six ships in front of you seem to be abused by the East Coast people and need your help in urgent need. If you leave them alone and fight these two "clippers", it is equivalent to verdicting the death penalty for the previous ships; but if you don't care about these two ships, she will continue to harass you, and over time, something will definitely happen.

This is a dilemma. However, the British commander did seem to be more decisive. He did not worry too much about this issue, perhaps because he didn't have much time to think about it. In short, all the British ships shrank their formation and rushed straight forward, intending to meet with the six ships in front, and then find ways to gain the upper hand. Next, either continue fighting or breaking out of contact and reorganizing the formation can be done easily.

Since the British ignored the existence of the "Yangwu" and "Yangwei", these two fast warships would naturally not be polite. They selected a British merchant ship that had been ravaged just now, and then approached it and bombarded it with side guns. The British merchant ship also saw that something was wrong, but the hull of the tea and silk was too clumsy. Soon, its foremast was torn and broken by a chain bomb fired by the "Yangwei", and the four sail surfaces of the middle mast were also damaged to varying degrees. The most severely damaged upper sail was almost completely broken and air leaked, and it could no longer provide power for navigation.

With her speed dropped to more than two knots, she quickly dropped out and became the prey of the fast cruisers "Yangwei" and "Yangwu". The desperate British captain ordered the crew to throw boxes of precious Eastern cargo into the sea to reduce the weight of the ship and facilitate escape. However, his actions were futile. The speed of more than two knots was vulnerable to the speed of ten knots, and she was soon submerged in the rain of bullets launched by the two fast cruisers.

Lu Ming looked vigilantly at the British main fleet that was gradually forcing up and began to order the five warships to turn. He was not prepared to lead the fleet to block the British's way, as it would lead to his fleet being trapped in a large number of British ships, allowing the British to fully develop the advantage of many ships to start a chaotic war. In that way, his losses would be infinitely magnified. If he was not lucky, the British who were gambled could even jump onto his own warship, which would be a little bad.

Moreover, he vaguely felt that the British were not very strong in fighting. They seemed to be more eager to get rid of the harassment of their fleet and then leave first. Is it because they felt that they were not sure of victory, or because the cargo on the ship was too expensive, and the loss of one ship was extremely amazing?

This is fine, Lu Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and he didn't want to fight with them. Following behind and attacking the merchant ships was his favorite thing to do. If he fought with the British today, he might be able to win, but he would inevitably pay the price of sinking one or two warships. The eastern coast navy has too little capital and cannot withstand too much losses. Generally, Lu Ming is reluctant to fight with the enemy.

After the two British fleets merged, they slightly adjusted their formation. During this process, artillery battles on both sides were also ongoing. Two "August 10" gunboats and four British warships launched fierce attacks. In just over ten minutes when the two sides intersected, hundreds of shells poured on each other's warships. The four British warships and the superstructure of an approaching armed merchant ship were swept across the side, and the sailors suffered heavy casualties.

The East Coast people were not without losses. The worst of luck was the frigate "Beagle" lined up at the back. Unfortunately, she was broken a mast by the 18-pound cannon on the British warship, and the horizontal bar of the tail rudder was also seriously damaged. The modified warship of the pirate ship suddenly lost control and floated on the sea.

Perhaps it was because the British warships wanted to buy more time for the evacuation of merchant ships, or maybe it was because they really didn't want to miss the opportunity to beat the fallen dog. Four warships and an armed merchant ship braved the artillery fire of warships such as the "August 10" to close to the "Beagle" to a range of more than 300 meters, and then concentrated their firepower and bombarded fiercely.

After all, the Beagle was modified by a pirate ship, which highlights the longitudinal nature and speed of the cāo, and its protection ability is even below the average level. Therefore, when facing the British siege, it seemed a little overwhelmed. The deck of the waterline was penetrated several holes in succession, and the sailors frantically blocked the loopholes with canvas. At the same time, several manual water pumps on the ship also began to move, and a stream of water was pumped from the bottom cabin and then discharged into the sea through the drainage hole. However, this was far from enough than the sea water that rushed into the bottom cabin. The sea water in the bottom cabin of the Beagle was increasing little by little.

The warships such as the "August 10" that had been turned closer again and shelled the British frantically to relieve the pressure on the "Beagle". After the British succeeded, they quickly turned and began to evacuate. Their merchant ships had already traveled for a long time. They had fulfilled their responsibilities. Now it was time to consider themselves.

At this time, two "Yangwu"-class fast cruisers had sunk the British merchant ship and began to rush towards this side. So, five British ships that began to run wildly and five East Coast warships started to chase the sea (the "Abbot" transport ship stayed behind to help the "Beagle"). The four British warships and an armed merchant ship fled separately. The East Coast Navy was unmoved. After choosing the right target, the two fast cruisers first used high speed to catch up with the enemy ship. Through interception, artillery bombardment and other means, the enemy ship had to turn or slow down due to the damage of sails and masts. After the enemy ship slowed down, the main fleet rushed forward and siege them.

The pursuit lasted until the end of night. Two of the five British ships that fled were sunk. The remaining ships disappeared in the vast sea under the cover of the night. When the main fleet gave up the pursuit and returned, Chen Tumu, the captain of the Beagle, and his crew members were helplessly standing on the deck of the Abbot's transport ship. As for the tragic Beagle, it became a new paradise for fish at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Chapter completed!